The owner of a controversial three-story garage in Oak Bluffs is now
under the gun to file revised architectural plans for the project within
the next 13 days, or else face official pressure to demolish the
backyard building.

Oak Bluffs building inspector Richard Mavro this week issued the
Sept. 30 deadline to Joseph Moujabber, an Oak Bluffs businessman whose
construction project touched off a storm of protests from neighbors in
the North Bluff - a downtown neighborhood under consideration for
inclusion in the town historic district.

"In a directive from the building inspector to the owner, he
has until Sept. 30 to make a new plan," she said.

A new plan will have to go before the Copeland Plan District Review
Board, now that the North Bluff is part of the district of critical
planning concern (DCPC).

In July, Mr. Moujabber's Boston attorney, Bruce Barnett, told
members of the zoning board of appeals that his client wanted to move
the building 10 feet to the east away from abutting lot lines and attach
it to the five-bedroom bungalow on Seaview avenue extension.

Mr. Barnett said a plan would be ready within a week but then
withdrew his application, saying he needed more time. Mr. Barnett did
not return telephone calls from the Gazette yesterday.

But if Mr. Moujabber and his lawyer fail to offer a new plan to the
town by the end of the month, at least one selectman wants the building
torn down.

"It would be up to the rest of the board, but I believe the
structure should come down," said selectman and board chairman
Roger Wey.

In July, the zoning board of appeals voted unanimously to declare
the building illegal while also upholding the revocation of the building
permit.

Mr. Moujabber is already appealing that action in superior court,
his attorney arguing that the original permit granted by Mr. Mavro last
November was legal.

But Oak Bluffs town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport has repeatedly told
selectmen that the building permit should have never been issued to Mr.
Moujabber.

Invited to clarify the legal issues, Mr. Rappaport explained to
selectmen last month that Mr. Mavro interpreted an application for a
garage replacement as a residential structure, not an accessory
structure, under the zoning bylaws.

The distinction made a huge difference. As a residential structure,
Mr. Mavro reasoned that the new building would be set further away from
the neighboring lot lines and, consequently, less nonconforming than the
preexisting building, a 240-square-foot garage.

But bylaws governing accessory structures are stricter and would
have given Mr. Mavro the right to deny the application.

Instead, the permit went through, and Mr. Moujabber ended up
building something that looks like a triple-decker condominium fitted
with sliding glass doors and porch decks.

Last March, neighbors erupted in anger over the building, quickly
mounting a protest. Mr. Mavro issued a cease-and-desist order on the
project, then revoked the permit in May after Mr. Rappaport drafted a
legal opinion, concluding the original permit was wrongly granted.

Mr. Moujabber appealed the revocation to the zoning board, setting
the stage for back-to-back hearings in July that drew crowds of more
than 70 people.

Zoning board chairman Gail Barmakian - who is also a lawyer
- was unremitting in her questioning of Mr. Barnett, repeatedly
asking how a garage replacement mushroomed into a 3,000-square-foot
building.

Mr. Moujabber, who owns and operates Nancy's Restaurant in Oak
Bluffs with his cousin Douglas Abdelnour Jr., stated on his building
permit application last fall that the construction project was for
storage purposes only and would cost just $22,000.

Mr. Barnett admitted in July that the project actually has cost Mr.
Moujabber 10 times the original amount stated on the application -
$200,000. Zoning board members suggested Mr. Moujabber had perjured
himself in the process.

"He was hopeful it would eventually be approved for more than
storage," Mr. Barnett told the zoning board.

"Isn't that a little speculative on his part? Our bylaws
don't allow for it. He hasn't lived there five years, not
one day," said Ms. Barmakian.

"He wanted to build it once," replied Mr. Barnett.

Mr. Moujabber purchased the five-bedroom bungalow at 10 Seaview
avenue extension three years ago for $405,000.

This week, selectman Kerry Scott questioned whether Mr. Mavro should
sit on the seven-member Copeland review board since he issued the
original building permit to Mr. Moujabber back in November.

"I have some concerns about Dick Mavro on this
committee," she said, adding that the building inspector should
consider recusing himself from any hearing involving the Moujabber
project in the North Bluff.